The strength and resilience of your floor is largely determined by the thickness of the coating system. Too little and you’ll be replacing the floor every few years or so. And if the coating is too thin it may start to harbor dirt and pathogens in cracks and crevices. Turns out, choosing the right thickness can make or break the style and appearance you’re looking for on any given project due to things like texture, consistency and how well it bonds – all three affect longevity! We feel that it’s important you know the details. Hindsight is always 20/20!

FlexRock Coatings are engineered to be more resilient than others coating. To provide you with the best possible experience, we will work together in selecting an appropriate thickness for your flooring based on what type of space you have available for installation and use. Floor coatings are measured in ‘mils’ (a mil is 1/1000th of an inch). Here are some references: one-eight of an inch equals 125 mils. Standard ‘home center’ floor paint when cured is about 2 mils. A sheet of standard copy paper is about 4 mils.

Thin Mil Floor Coatings

The thickness of these floors varies from 4-10 mils based on the number of times it is coated. These thin mil coatings are for floors that get standard foot traffic because they can be easily cleaned with only soap and water; however, they may not protect well against heavy traffic and industrial use such as scuff marks or scratches. Primarily, they are only used to keep the surface of the floor shiny and clean.

Profile/Appearance: 4-10 mils, solid color.

This epoxy/urethane coating system is used in coating only very smooth floor surfaces to increase light reflectivity and decrease housekeeping by eliminating concrete porosity and dusting. Thin Mil Systems are for floors requiring an attractive, economical, high performance floor

Thicker is better!

FlexRock High Build Floor Coatings

FlexRock Coatings is a high build system, has no solvents, is self-leveling, and once installed dries quickly. This thicker system is perfect for filling cracks and imperfections on new or tired old warehouse floors. It also is a 100% solids systems which means that nothing evaporates out of the 100% solids. The general rule of thumb is the thicker the floor, the longer it lasts. FlexRock coatings’ recommended base coat thickness is 32 mils. Combined that with a FlexRock topcoat and you get an impressive 40-50 mils plus high build system.

The general rule of thumb is the thicker the floor coating, the longer lasting your floors will be. A thicker floor coating will be more abrasion resistant and have a higher compression strength and impact resistance. Thicker is better!

Profile/Appearance: 40-50 plus mils, solid color. Twice as thick as the leading competitors.

The FlexRock High Build System Provides the necessary coverage to hide track marks, spalls, and other concrete imperfections, giving the floor a solid profile. These systems are designed for industrial floor applications where the floor is subject to moderate traffic and chemical exposure. Creates an attractive, extremely durable floor.

System Benefits:

• High compression strength and impact resistance
• Easy to clean/maintain
• Excellent wear characteristics
• Suitable in many chemical resistant environments
• Light Reflectivity

What makes an industrial floor coating last?

The simple way of knowing is the coatings’ abrasion rating. This tells you how foot and vehicle traffic will affect the flooring’s gloss over time, letting you determine for yourself how long of a lifespan they have before all their good looks are gone.

Abrasion is tested using abrasion meters which test a sample for wear. The more “loss” the sample has, the less its resistance to abrasion. If an epoxy coating’s rating is high, it will wear out quickly; if low, then it lasts longer and can protect against damage from our shoes or other objects on top of them. Note that every small variation in these ratings–from 4mg up through 24mg–can make a huge difference in how long they last before wearing down! A floor with an abrasions loss rating at 24 mg isn’t thick enough so could easily be worn away over time- but one rated between 8 mlg and 16 mlt would work well.

FlexRock High Performance Top Coats

FlexRock Coatings Epoxies is a 100% solids systems which means that nothing evaporates out of the 100% solids epoxy. FXE-100 is an example of this system. These floors are extremely durable and ideal for commercial/industrial environments. But it has some drawbacks. Epoxy is not UV resistant. It can range from some discoloration (browning) to slight ambering over time due to UV exposure and high-intensity lighting indoors or outdoors. If you need a UV-resistant coating, the FXP-80 Polyaspartic polyurea is an excellent choice.

There Is No Such Thing as a UV Resistant Epoxy

Our FXP-80 Plus is a two-component high solids polyaspartic clear topcoat with excellent chemical resistance, UV stability, abrasion resistance and hardness. This material is intended to be used as a high gloss topcoat over paint chips, decorative broadcasts, or colored quartz broadcasts to provide an infinite array of color schemes or patterns.

Now that we have explained the different thicknesses and types of floor coating, you will be able to ask all your questions and make a better buying decision. You can always contact us with any concerns or needs about floor coatings. We’re happy to help.